Misspelled name needs fixing

A journey to trace his family history has led one man to discover that his great uncle's surname has been misspelt on Shannon's war memorial.

Norman Harold Wood from Shannon, who died on May 8, 1915 at Gallipoli, is honoured for his service on the memorial sited on Plimmer Tce.

However, when his great nephew Ron Shearman visited the war memorial recently, he discovered that the memorial engraver had added an 's' to the end of Wood.

Mr Shearman said that it was only an 's' but these things matter when it comes to tracing your ancestry and he was up to the challenge of having the mistake rectified.

Mr Shearman sent an email to the Ministry for Culture and Heritage hoping to get the name fixed.

National Monuments and War Graves senior advisor Jane Mulryan said, though they were responsible for the maintenance and care of memorials erected by the New Zealand government, the Shannon memorial wasn't one of them.

She confirmed that Mr Wood's surname was correctly spelt in their records and suggested Mr Shearman approach Horowhenua District Council or the Returned Services' Association to find out who was responsible for the Shannon memorial.

Horowhenua district Council confirmed the Shannon war memorial was not their area of business and to contact Veterans' Affairs.

Veterans' Affairs had not responded to Horowhenua Chronicle's email by print time, however Mr Shearman said he is determined to see his great uncle's name corrected.